Cape Air (9K, Hyannis) has accepted the first two of its new twin-engine Costruzioni Aeronautiche TECNAM P2012 Travellers, the first commercial aircraft type to be created by the Italian aeronautics manufacturer.
Tecnam revealed in a statement that the acceptance of the aircraft, msn SN003 and SN004, took place at its headquarters in Capua from July 16 to 18, during which time the airline's pilots and technicians made inspections, checked the manuals and documents, and performed flight testing.
The inspections were performed at the P2012 Production Facility, where other fuselages to be delivered to Cape Air are in various stages of completion. The carrier signed an agreement in September 2017 for twenty Tecnam P2012s with a further eighty options.
A ferry flight from Capua to the Cape Air base in Hyannis, Massachusetts, will be performed by Giovanni Pascale, Tecnam's chief operating officer, as pilot in command, the statement said.
“We have successfully completed the final technical and flight performance acceptance phase of the P2012 aircraft project. The years of collaboration between Cape Air, Tecnam, Lycoming Engines, and Garmin Avionics have created a truly exceptional and economical aircraft,” said Jim Goddard, Cape Air's senior vice president for fleet planning and acquisitions.
Cape Air's fleet currently consists of eighty-eight Cessna (twin piston) aircraft and four BN-2s operating up to four hundred flights per day during the high season, according to its website. Routes reach across the northeastern and midwestern United States, stretching also to Montana and the Caribbean.
